No justification for banning electronic cigarettes from public places

A new study shows that environmental vapor from electronic cigarettes poses little risk to non-vapers.

An indoor air quality study conducted by CHANGE LLC at the Center for Air Resources Engineering and Science atClarksonUniversityinPotsdam,New York, was published this month in the peer reviewed journal, Inhalation Toxicology.

The study, which was sponsored by the National Vapers’ Club (NVP), a consumer-based electronic cigarette organization, compared the levels of harmful by-products commonly found in cigarette smoke with those found in the vapour of several popular brands of electronic cigarettes.

Most of the harmful compounds found in smoke were not found in the electronic cigarette vapour, and those few compounds that were found were at such minuscule levels that toxicology analysis detected no risk (cancer or non-cancer risk) to public health, the NVP said in a press note issued through PRNewswire.

The note quoted Dr. Michael Siegel, of Boston University School of Public Health, as saying that the study demonstrated that the risks of second-hand vapor from electronic cigarette use were very small in comparison to those associated with second-hand tobacco smoke.

“While second-hand smoke must be eliminated in workplaces and public places, the current data provide no justification for eliminating electronic cigarette use in these places,” Siegel was quoted as saying.